Brian Caffarey - 14th August 2009

Tuesday evening’s re-designed matchday programme was very well received and sold out. (If you missed it, you can view an on-line copy: see the earlier news item.) Saturday’s matchday programme should be even better since the page size will be larger and therefore easier to read for old fogies like me.

We’ve got two more new features on Saturday: ‘How others see us’, a round-up by Alan Worth of how others view Woking FC, and ‘A moment in time’, when Tom Barnardo looks back at an interesting moment in the Club’s history. A highlight is a profile of Club Chairman, Shahid Azeem. He’s completely obsessed with sport! Neil Bennett’s second ‘Life Sentence’ offering is a fantastic piece of writing: warm, wry and self-deprecating. Anyone with a soul will love it! Lewis Hulatt profiles our ‘Arry Arter and, for the kids, there’s a centre-fold picture of Harry with an autograph strip, so have your pens ready!

Some of the highlights are:

Page 3
Graham Baker reflects on Tuesday’s encounter with Chelmsford City and looks forward to the games against Worcester City and Weston-super-Mare:

“We weren’t disciplined enough, with a few players playing their own game rather than playing as a team, and losing possession too readily. We are a young side but these lessons will have to be learned quickly if we’re to prosper in this league.”

“When I visited him at his office in Walnut Tree Close the objects scattered around included signed cricket bats, Amir Khan’s Olympic vest, a signed Kaka shirt (“I couldn’t afford to buy him for Woking, so I bought his shirt instead”), Chelsea memorabilia, including Peter Osgood’s shirt and a signed photo of a Chelsea ‘legends’ team, with Shahid flanked by the likes of Peter Bonetti and other former Blues, and a number of sporting shirts and helmets from Maclaren’s”

Page 12
‘A moment in time’, and Manager Colin Lippiatt is rueing the size of his budget! Not much changes!

Pages 24-25
A double-page photo of Harry, with signature strip for his autograph.

Page 29
A collection of some of David Holmes’s best action shots so far this season. So many to choose from!

Page 32
Life Sentence. Neil Bennett, author of last season’s brilliant ‘A Season to Remember’, continues his ruminations on life and Woking, wondering if and when he should initiate his sons into the Kingfield rites:

“And it's this affinity that I would – with a selfishness that should be jeered at angrily – dearly love to unearth with my boys. By the same token, I would also like them not to be sat in a bar in twenty years’ time telling strangers about how their oafish narcissistic father inflicted Paolo Vernazza on them.”

Pages 36-37
KC Kat is back from his holidays and has got a great new competition for kids, with a signed football as a prize.

Page 42
‘How others see us’. Alan Worth sifts through websites, websites and forums to see what others are saying about the Cards.

And, of course, the rest of the programme is packed full with all the usual reports, previews, statistics and great photos.

Support the Club and buy a copy! Only £2.50. You can order a copy from the Club Shop if you can’t make it to the game, but don’t leave it too late!